Jewish Stereo Types

...because they were faced with more than their fair share of "too sweet" critiques: You may have to bump up the volume for this recording of Kelli O'Hara singing "I Whistle a Happy Tune" Video posted by Rodgers & Hammerstein Then there's the incomparable Ella Fitzgerald singing the now-controversial "Happy Talk" (but surely the message of South Pacific should count--or should it? Drop a line in the comments if you've got some thoughts about that, please) Video posted by A Trip Down Memory Lane And there's Julie Andrews bringing us a list of what makes her character happy, "My Favorite Things" Video posted by Fox Family Entertainment Hello to you, too! *** As I've written before , Richard Rodgers (his father changed the family's last name from Abrahams) was Jewish, and one of the most influential composers on Broadway, first with Lorenz Hart, then with Oscar Hammerstein, and lastly, in a series of one...

...you can always try a little incentive: Video posted by Bomborarius Of course, if sugar doesn't do it for you, you can always try a vacation: Video posted by Ikenna Mokwe Although, you really don't want to take it too far... Video posted by Master Okay, so Mary Poppins was a childhood favorite (I know all the words to "The Perfect Nanny" by heart, and I mean EVERY WORD) and it's is still one of my favorite movies. If you haven't anything else to fill your time this weekend, I heartily recommend a rewatch. ... There are PENGUINS! *** The songs for Mary Poppins (and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and The Jungle Book and Bedknobs and Broomsticks , among others) were written by the Sherman brothers, Robert and Richard. They were the sons of Tin Pan Alley songwriter Al (Avrum) Sherman and like their father, were Jewish . For Mary Poppins , I forgive them for writing this: (And now you'll have that stuck in your head all weekend. Shabbat sha...

I had a good dramatic, emotional, Fathers-Day-appropriate song all ready to go for today. But my father passed away a little less than a year ago, so I decided to look at a thing he always enjoyed instead. Rather than a single song, therefore, I thought we'd take a look at a movie musical that, no matter what you might believe from the title, is really about a father: Mary Poppins . How we know that Mary Poppins is really about the father and not about Mary Poppins is that the father is the only character that changes over the course of the film. Mary Poppins herself doesn't change--Mary Poppins NEVER changes. Jane and Michael don't change--we first see them being brought back home after running away, and near the end of the film we see them being brought back after running away. Mrs. Banks doesn't change--she is concerned about her children but distracted by her suffragette activities all the way through. But Mr. Banks changes--and he changes as a father . What coul...